NEW DELHI, June 7: Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram was initially reported to have lost from his parliamentary constituency in May 2009, and then declared elected by a clutch of electronically cast votes. On Thursday the Madras High Court turned down his appeal against a judicial review of the electoral verdict.

The court’s decision brought opposition demands for his resignation. The Press Trust of India quoted Mr Chidambaram as ruling out resignation, saying the verdict was not a setback for him but for his rival.

The Indian home minister’s quandary was at par with his Pakistani counterpart’s fate after the Supreme Court suspended Rehman Malik’s membership of the Senate for a set of different reasons.

PTI said Mr Chidambaram ridiculed the demand for his resignation by Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, saying he was astonished by their `monumental ignorance’.

Reacting to the demands of the opponents, he said those who made the demand for his resignation “do not have criminal case, do not have charges and have not been questioned under Criminal Procedure Code”. “I am astonished by the monumental ignorance displayed by certain political leaders. This is an election petition. There are 111 election petitions filed against members of 15th Lok Sabha,” Mr Chidambaram said.

According to reports, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday declined Mr Chidambaram’s plea for dismissal of the petition against him by the losing All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate R.S. Rajakannappan in Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu in 2009 Lok Sabha polls. But the court struck down two paragraphs in Mr Rajakannappan’s petition containing allegations against returning officer, government and bank officials.

Mr Chidambaram said the election petition against him contained only allegations, PTI said. “Issues have not yet been framed. Trial has not yet started. Not one witness has been examined. At the threshold an application was filed to strike out pleadings”.—Jawed Naqvi